Tessl • The management layer for AI agent skills

Bootstrap Checkov and scan Terraform code for security misconfigurations — locally, before CI catches them.

Read references/checkov.md before responding. It contains all mode logic, bootstrap steps, provider detection, and fix patterns.

Mode dispatch

Parse the first word of $ARGUMENTS as the mode. When $ARGUMENTS is empty, run the interactive wizard.

Mode	What it does
`static`	Scan `.tf` source files with `--download-external-modules true`
`plan`	`terraform init` → plan → JSON → Checkov `--deep-analysis` (use `--upgrade` flag to also upgrade providers)
`secrets`	Scan entire repo for hardcoded secrets (`--framework secrets --enable-secret-scan-all-files`)
`audit`	One-time secrets history scan across all commits (`--scan-secrets-history`)
`multi`	Scan Terraform + GitHub Actions + Dockerfiles + Helm in a single run
`baseline`	Create `.checkov.baseline` to snapshot existing violations
`fix`	Re-run scan and apply AI-generated patches to `.tf` files
`scaffold`	Generate `.checkov.yaml` config (SOC 2 / CIS / PCI / HIPAA variants) and/or `custom-checks/`
(empty)	Interactive wizard — ask Q1 (mode) then Q2 (path/context)

Interactive Wizard

Q1 — Mode?

What do you need?
  1. static    — scan .tf source files  [default]
  2. plan      — terraform plan → Checkov deep analysis
  3. secrets   — scan entire repo for hardcoded secrets and tokens
  4. audit     — one-time scan of git commit history for leaked secrets
  5. multi     — scan Terraform + GitHub Actions + Dockerfiles + Helm together
  6. baseline  — snapshot existing violations (first-run brownfield)
  7. fix       — scan and apply AI-generated fixes to .tf files
  8. scaffold  — generate .checkov.yaml (SOC 2 / CIS / PCI / HIPAA) or custom-checks/

Enter 1–8 or mode name:

Q2 — Path? (ask after Q1)

Terraform root directory, or press Enter to scan current directory [default: .]:

Then proceed into the relevant mode section in references/checkov.md.

Agent behavior

Intent classification

Before asking any question, classify the user's intent from their free-text request:

Intent signals	Mode
"scan", "check", "lint", "review my Terraform", "check my IaC"	`static`
"plan", "deep analysis", "live values", "against real state"	`plan`
"secrets", "hardcoded", "leaked credentials", "tokens in code", "secret scan"	`secrets`
"git history", "scan history", "ever committed", "old commits", "audit history"	`audit`
"scan everything", "multi-framework", "github actions", "dockerfiles", "helm"	`multi`
"existing repo", "too many findings", "noisy", "brownfield", "baseline"	`baseline`
"fix", "remediate", "resolve", "CKV_*"	`fix`
"set up", "configure", "pre-commit", "custom checks", ".checkov.yaml", "scaffold"	`scaffold`

Ask only for missing high-risk inputs

Do not pepper the user with questions. Only prompt for inputs where getting it wrong causes real harm:

When to ask	Question
Multiple Terraform roots detected	"Which root? (1. terraform/aws/ 2. terraform/azure/ 3. All)"
Plan mode, multiple `*.tfvars` found	"Which var file? (1. staging.tfvars 2. production.tfvars 3. None)"
Plan mode, non-default workspace detected	"Currently on workspace '' — continue? (y/N)"
Fix → Apply mode	"Apply these changes? (y/N)" — show unified diff first
scaffold writes a new file	"Write .checkov.yaml to ? (y/N)"

Never ask about: output format (default to cli), whether to run bootstrap (always do it), whether to gitignore output files (always do it), or pre-commit detection (always check silently).

Cross-references

/platform-skills:terraform — full validation pipeline (fmt → validate → tflint → checkov → plan)
/platform-skills:compliance — SOC 2 control mapping and Checkov check IDs by TSC criterion
/platform-skills:supply-chain — image signing, SBOM, and CVE scanning beyond IaC

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